REGRETTABLY, the last month has seen Wales facing yet another outbreak of the dangerous bacteria E.coli.

Nine people are thought to have been affected by the Cardiff outbreak, some of whom were hospitalised, and a further nine cases are under investigation.

Fortunately, it looks as though there will be no loss of life this time – but there can be no cause for complacency.

The Cardiff takeaway at the centre of the outbreak investigation underwent a food hygiene inspection just weeks before the first E.coli case was confirmed.

The inspection concluded major improvements in hygiene standards were required, yet this information was not readily available to the public.

What is tragic is that every E.coli case is always preventable.

But the sad fact is this serious infection, which can cause symptoms from stomach cramps and diarrhoea to kidney failure and death, is striking all too often in Wales.

This latest E.coli outbreak comes hot on the heels of a serious outbreak in Wrexham in 2009 and the South Wales outbreak in 2005, which affected more than 150 people and resulted in the tragic death of five-year-old Mason Jones.

With each E.coli infection being avoidable with proper precautions – every new infection is one too many.

What is clear from this most recent outbreak is that the lessons of previous outbreaks are not being learned and something must change if we are to avoid more outbreaks in the future.

The swift response from Public Health Wales and environmental health teams to deal with the Cardiff outbreak is certainly to be commended. But clearly more still needs to be done.

Professor Hugh Pennington’s inquiry into the 2005 E.coli outbreak identified serious failings at every step in the food chain.

His report highlighted serious flaws in the environmental health and abattoir inspection regime and the way in which councils buy food for school meals.

Prof Pennington’s report made a number of important recommendations, including that more resources must go into food safety and that food producers must “get to grips” with safety management.

But the Pennington Report was published some time ago and bodies including Consumer Focus Wales and Prof Pennington himself have expressed concerns the recommendations are not being implemented quickly or robustly enough by the Welsh Government.

This latest outbreak in Cardiff provides us with yet further evidence a scores on the doors system is needed in Wales.

Such a system would allow consumers to make informed choices about where to take their custom and provide businesses with badges of public pride or shame.

One thing is for sure, such a scheme would drive up standards, as owners react quickly to address hygiene shortcomings or face losing trade.

Talk from the Welsh Government is cheap.

If we are to avoid further unnecessary illness and deaths then we need immediate action from ministers to fully implement Prof Pennington’s recommendations and to introduce a scheme to force businesses to display their Food Standards Agency hygiene ratings on their doors.

We must empower the public by providing easy-to-understand information on compliance with food safety laws so business owners who defy basic hygiene regulations will be forced by popular demand to clean up their act or leave the industry.

We owe it to the parents of Mason Jones and the other families affected by these E.coli outbreaks to ensure action is taken and soon.